... even since the last time I was pregnant, it's slightly mind boggling. I don't know how people with children 5 years and up don't stand cringing at the things we do, or how we don't stand gaping at our parents upon hearing the things that they did to us.
Actually, I know that some people do this. But I have vowed not to be one of them.
I've heard about a bunch of things that were definite "Do Nots" when I was pregnant, that have been adjusted to "Only Do Ifs". I almost feel like my copy of What to Expect When You're Expecting is out of date (but I did check, and it is the latest edition).
At my first prenatal appointment today, I was told I did not need to come back for another appointment until I was 10 weeks. Last time I am pretty sure I went back at 8 weeks too (this may have been my fault though, she told me that I should come back in 5 weeks and that would make me 9.5 weeks, and I asked if that would be my heartbeat appointment, and she said it's too early for that, so she said just wait until 10-12 weeks to book, then we can get the heartbeat in there.. so, that may have been my fault)
Also, she told me this time that it is now common to do two ultrasounds rather than one. Now they generally do one at 10-11 weeks for "dating" purposes and then the usual 18-20 week one. This surprised me because so little research has been done on the effects of ultrasounds on fetuses. I'm worried that it'll be some situation like in the 80s, when the number of kids with leukemia skyrocketed and when Dr Alice Stewart figured out that it was because of xrays done on pregnant women, there was such a resistance to change it that it went on for YEARS before it stopped becoming a common practice (if you want to watch the first few minutes of the TEDtalks I posted in THIS blog post you can get a quick 'coles notes' version of events and reasons as to why this happend)... You can still call me paranoid if you'd like. However, I do realize it can't be anything THAT bad because I am pretty sure a high majority of babies in the western world have ultrasounds done on them for years and as far as I know our childhood cancers are not on the rise, but still. I think that more research needs to be done. And I do recognize that under certain circumstances ultrasounds can be more helpful than any thing that I could possibly fathom that they could possibly be causing, but if I have no reason to need one, I am pretty confident in my dates, then I have no intention of doing more than I need. Now, that could change at a moment's notice, should some cramping or bleeding or something happen, but as of right now, I consider myself to be having a completely normal pregnancy, and it would be completely unnecessary.
I heard, basically that a girl who's working on her second baby just doesn 't need as much opportunity to ask questions as someone on their first time around. I've heard of some ladies who go every 4 weeks during their first set of appointments and then for their second baby only once every two months or so. It's just old hat, been there done that.
ReplyDeleteThe ultrasound thing always seems to be a big question mark. But the thing is that you don't have to agree to any care you're not comfortable with. They wanted me to have an ultrasound at 5 weeks, and I had really wanted to limit the amount of "waves" used. Limit ultrasounds and dopplers as much as possible. So I refused the 5wk ultrasound and had the doc use a stethoscope as much as possible. But yeah, if you're not comfortable you can say no to whatever you want. If you're a cancer patient, you do have the option of refusing treatment, as long as you know the risks.
It is amazing what people will overreact to too. A baby having toys in their crib or sleeping on their tummy means certain death now, but all of us slept on our fronts when we were babies, and yet we live. hmmm
-JMcQ